The Next Generation
by DelsGirl
Summary: Diana is Sarah's daughter. 21 years after Labyrinth the movies has come out, Diana is not happy with her life. Halfheartedly she wishes herself away to Jareth only to find out the movies had been something that had actually happened to her mother.REVISED
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Labyrinth, Jareth, Sarah, the Two-Headed Twins, ets. Those belong to Jim Henson Productions. However, I do own Diana, Maria, Asar, etc. as well as the plot of this story. Disclaimers will be few and far between. Most songs referenced in this story belong to David Bowie and any others will be so noted. This is the revised version and I intend to continue revising until **I** am satisfied with the final result. Thank you for your time. Please, read, review, and, most of all, ENJOY!**

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**Prologue**

**In 1986, an attractive young woman named Sarah was taking care of her baby step-brother while her father and step-mother had gone out for the night. **

**The baby, Toby, had been fed and put to bed early. The job was supposed to be simple; help the infant when ever help was required--no more, no less; however, the baby would not cooperate and began wailing at the top of his little lungs.**

**He wailed, screamed, and threw a tantrum until poor Sarah was exhausted and just about ready to give up, go back to her room and simply let Toby cry. In a final effort to comfort the miserable infant, Sarah picked him up and began to tell him a story about a beautiful young woman with whom a powerful and handsome Goblin King had fallen in love with. **

**She told of powers given to the girl and as she began to tell of them, she stopped suddenly, put the baby down and proceeded to the bedroom door. As she turned off the lights she said, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away…right now."**

**Much to her dismay the terrible goblins did just that. Her brother was whisked away by the Goblin King to the Goblin City in the Underground. Sarah was given thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth. If she failed her baby brother was going to be turned into a goblin himself and would be the Goblin King's heir. If she won, she won the freedom of little Toby.**

**Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, she fought her way to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that he had stolen. Though the Goblin King did not realize it, her will was as strong as his and her kingdom was as great. **

**The Goblin King offered Sarah her dreams in return for his keeping the baby. He told her, "I ask for so little, just let me rule you. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."**

**Sarah overcame the Goblin King by saying one line: "You have no power over me!" And with that the Goblin King was forced to send Sarah and Toby home and leave them, defeated.**


	2. Gone but Not Forgotten

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

**Chapter One**

**Though he had been rejected, Jareth the Goblin King never completely lost the love he had felt for Sarah. The lonely years went by and Jareth became the same bitter person he had been prior to Sarah's existence. **

**He constantly worried about his crumbling kingdom, the low population-and intelligence-of his subjects and his impending loneliness. Trash accumulated outside of the city, the walls of the Labyrinth had begun to deteriorate, and the Goblin King, who had been in his position since his successor had given it to him centuries ago, was growing tired of the entire situation.**

**The Labyrinth's unkemptness was due to the state of its Master. The Labyrinth was an extension of Jareth and suffered his emotional baggage. The only way that it had any chance of regaining most to all of its former glory would be for Jareth to be perpetually happy, or at least continuously pleased.**

**Life was so slow going that Jareth was forced to go searching for children to kidnap. Back in the Dark Ages was when he had been at the top of his games. People had believed in goblins then, mothers were younger and less patient with young children and fathers only wanted sons but frequently got daughters that they considered only another mouth to feed. **

**Through the years people had become less certain that goblins and other such creatures were real and therefore they called on the goblins' services less and less with each passing year. Instead of being called on every other day, Jareth was lucky to get called on once a month.**

**The goblins avoided him at all costs which only made the King even harder to live with. Twenty-one years had passed and with them the strength of his infatuation dimmed.**

…**That is, until one fateful night when he heard someone calling for themselves to be taken away by the goblins.**

"**Diana!" someone called from a distant part in her mind and she was vaguely aware of being shaken lightly. **

"**Diana!" This time it was a stern male voice. Her head shot up and with a dazed expression she looked around the room. Every student in the class was looking at her as was the teacher. **

"**Crap!" she thought as she blushed slightly. "I must have been daydreaming again."**

"**Yes?" she said aloud.**

"**Will you kindly tell me the answer to the question?" the teacher asked smugly, annoyed that she wasn't even making an attempt to explain herself.**

"**Um," she paused for a moment, unsure, and then replied, "Robert E. Lee?" **

**The teacher scowled, harrumphed and proceeded with the lesson, amazed at how this one student could be both a daydreamer and his star pupil. In all of his years of teaching the **_**Civil War and Reconstruction **_**course he had never met a student like**_** that**_**one…and secretly hoped he never would again.**

**The class, and school, ended for the day. Diana's friend, Jessica, called for her to wait up; Diana halted and when Jessica finally did catch up she was winded but not enough that she didn't begin talking once she was in earshot.**

"**Man, you did it again! I don't know how you do it! Did you see his face?" she took a breath and started again, "Don't tell me, you were dreaming about that stupid movie again, weren't you? When are you going to stop that?"**

"**The day David Bowie stops being hot; and it's none of your dang business anyway." She mumbled low enough she knew she couldn't be heard properly. **

"**Hey, the gang and I are going to the mall, wanna go?" Jessica said, unfazed by Diana's surly, yet muffled comment.**

"**Naw, I've got some things that I've gotta get done in the house before my mom rips my head off…she's been after me to get it done for the past week and said that she'd make me baby-sit for my cousins if I didn't—all of them mind you."**

**Jessica winced in sympathy. D wasn't big on kids anyway and to have to baby-sit seven kids, all of which were under the age of four, at one time would be cruel and unusual punishment for her.**

"**Okay, well, then I'll see you on Monday. Later!"**

"**Later." **

**Diana shrugged into her forest green book bag and began the walk from the front the school to the back where the student parking lot was.**


	3. Friday Nights

**Friday Nights**

**Chapter Two**

**Safe in her red Jeep Wrangler, Diana tossed her bag into the passengers' seat and began fumbling with the radio. **

"**Music!" her brain screamed, "I must have music!"**

**Giving up she found her favorite CD: ****ChangesBowie****; relaxing only when his deep, though almost falsettoed, voice filtered through the speakers with **_**Space Oddity**_

**She sat back in the drivers' seat and listened to the song. She only began her journey home when it was over and she had changed the track to **_**Suffragette City**_** her favorite song. She bopped and swayed to the music all the way home and was thoroughly annoyed when she realized that she needed to shut off the music and go in the dark and deserted house.**

**Her parents wouldn't be home until Sunday evening and, yeah, she had lied to Jessica but socializing with a group of people who seemed to have the cumulative I.Q. of a chicken did not seem enjoyable to her right then.**

**When she finally entered the house she passed through the cramped foyer, into the den and headed directly to the movie case on the opposite side of the room. She picked out her favorite movie:**** Labyrinth****. She decided on that one because when ever she watched it around her parents her mother would fuss and tell her that she has 'watched that movie a blue-million times' and that she should find something else to watch; while that didn't bother her too much, she preferred to watch that particular movie in private, peace and quite.**

**Back in the mid-'80s, her mother, Sarah, had sold the rights to a story she had thought up: ****Labyrinth****. The only thing Diana had ever found strange about the whole arrangement was that her mother had made part of the deal in order for the names, characters and every other detail that she had come up with to stay the same.**

**Her uncle, Toby, once told her that it wasn't just a story but that it really happened to him and Sarah. Later Diana had asked her mother about it and was spanked for insisting it was. Since then she had had an unnatural interest, which bordered on obsession, in both David Bowie and Labyrinth.**

**She popped in the movie, fixed some popcorn and sat down to immerse herself in the uniqueness of the entire thing. When it ended, she fixed herself a small dinner of chicken soup and climbed up the stairs to her room, her sanctuary, sporting an enormous, satisfied smile.**

**The walls were covered in posters with most revolving around three central themes- David Bowie, Labyrinth and Rock n' Roll music. She had hard cherry-wood floors, leopard printed sheets, and her bed was draped with a hanging net, however, the place where she was most likely to be found was the antique desk in the corner of her room that was adorned with composition books filled with stories and drawings that were all her own.**

**She sighed as she slipped into the plush, black desk chair and removed her worn, brown leather boots. Her rust colored tight on the body, loose on the arms peasant shirt was next to come off and was soon followed by her hip-hugger threadbare blue-jeans.**

**She then padded over to her bed in only her skivvies, and flopped down into it. She stretched and was beginning to work out the knots that a week of high-school had given her when she paused and realization dawned on her.**

"**Ugh! Here I am, almost seventeen years old," she thought in disgust, "Never had a boyfriend, never had a first kiss; I'm in bed, at home on a Friday night with no plans for the weekend and nothing to do until spring break two months from now and all that is is going up to Kentucky for the week, with my parents, for a family reunion. What's wrong with me?" The last she said aloud and it even sounded pathetic to her. **

"**Oh! I with Jareth was real so that he could take me away. I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now!" she repeated the last once more before closing her eyes and returning to her stretching and dwelling in her new found misery.**

**From some distant part of her mind she thought she heard a deep, elated chuckle; this was followed by a phantom caress down her exposed stomach. Her eyes flew open; she looked around her room franticly and was greeted with the outline of a man in the corner of her room that was slowly gaining substance.**

**His shining dirty-blonde, almost mullet styled, hair was the first to come in lucidly, followed by his regal face and the remainder of his body. He was dressed in all black save for the cloak that was about his shoulders which was so dark of an emerald green that it appeared to be almost onyx. His clothing might have been considered feminine on someone else but this gentleman seemed to be able to pull it off.**

**The first thing that registered in Diana's mind was how handsome she found this individual as well as how he must have been about four inches taller than she was, putting him at about 5' 10". As though he had read her mind, he smirked. He began looking at the objects on her walls and paused when he came to a picture of Sarah at around sixteen. At that moment, his identity was unmistakable.**

"**Do you know," he said in a distracted tone, "You are much more beautiful than your mother was, and I suspect still is?" he turned back to look at her and grinned.**

"**By the way, Diana, do not be too embarrassed by your attire…it suits you." he said nonchalantly with an evil smirk.**

**Realizing her lack of clothing, Diana blushed deep crimson and made a feeble attempt to cover herself with blankets that were tucked in far too tightly to allow her to do so.**

**The Goblin King chuckled and sauntered toward her. Placing a gloved hand on her chest when she sat up, he gently pushed her back to the bed. Upon seeing Diana like this he though back to when he saw her for the first time a moment ago. He had been stunned at her lack of resemblance to Sarah. Her mother had been brown haired with jade colored, doe eyes and a petite, delicate frame, however, her daughter sported thick dark auburn hair with dark chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes and an athletic, yet curvaceous, form. She was beautiful. His greed, lust, and something he couldn't comprehend overwhelmed him and he told himself that he would have this one…no matter what.**

**Diana took his silence as a time for her to take a better look at him. The attributes that she had noticed earlier paled in comparison as she noted his eyes being one hazel and one brilliant blue; his lips being full for a man's and so sensual that she almost leaned up to kiss them; his body being toned and shapely; his…she blushed and looked away.**

"**Oh man," she thought, "David Bowie hasn't got **_**anything**_** on this guy!" As if her thoughts had flipped a switch, they both reentered reality.**

"**Why are you here, Goblin King?" she asked suddenly.**

"**Because you asked to be taken away." He replied as though it should have been obvious to her. He stood over her with what he considered to be a fantastic view and looked down at the confused expression that covered her face.**

"**I don't do this for everyone, you know. You should be grateful." **

"**What do you mean 'this'? You're really taking me?"**

"**Of course. You called, I have responded so now I am obligated to take you to the Underground."**

"**I…wait, how the Hell am I supposed to hold a conversation with someone when I am lying on a bed in my underwear?" she fumed, finally having enough of being, literally, talked down to.**

"**Yes," he mused as he blatantly eyed her, "Why don't you sit up." It wasn't a question or a suggestion, it was a command but she kind of expected him to be that way—spoiled and expectant of others to follow all of his orders. She sat up and pulled her knees up to cover herself, crossed her ankles then wrapped her arms around her knees to anchor them in place. He scowled at her obvious attempt to conceal herself from him.**

"**Now may we converse?" he asked impatiently. "You and I have some things we must discuss."**

"**Fine, but first I'm gonna get some clothes on…could you maybe turn around?" He looked at her as though she had nine eyes.**

"**You sat up, is that not adequate?" he inquired testily.**

"**Please." She added softly. He didn't answer but went to looking at the things on her desk. She snuck over to where she had thrown her clothes and quickly donned them--rushing to the point she almost fell over twice.**

"**Thank you." she said when she had finished, truly meaning it. He turned quickly and looked at her hard; he had never had **_**anyone**_** tell him 'thank you' before and was unsure as to what to do about it. She sat back down on the bed and bayed him sit in the desk chair.**

**Ignoring the offer he looked at her and said, "We have an odd arrangement here, do we not? I have many a time had people try and summon me the way you did; however, I rarely answer them. The reason you will attempt to solve my Labyrinth will be for a different reason than anyone before you: your freedom or the chance to become my Queen. Should you fail to solve the Labyrinth in the allotted thirteen hours you will become one of my goblin servants and remain in the Underground, doing my bidding, for the rest of your days; if you should require my assistance at any time because of a life or death situation…you shall become mine in every aspect of the word: body, mind, and soul. You will retain your humanity but will spend the remainder of eternity as mine to use as I please." He smiled evilly, but not unkindly, as shock spread over her face.**

"**You mean I have to solve the Labyrinth? And what if I refuse and tell you 'you have no power over me'?" He laughed as hard as royalty dare to laugh in the presence of someone unknown to them and she was, again, puzzled.**

"**Oh, Diana, I might have to put you in danger so that I may rescue and keep you. You are truly a joy." He laughed again then added, still chuckling, "That line does not work if you have asked for **_**yourself **_**to be taken away. Another thing, please tell me how you plan to get out of the Underground without first solving the Labyrinth."**

"**I just won't go." She said confidently. **

"**Diana," he crooned not taking his eyes off of her. "Look where you are, Love." He swept his arms in a defining gesture which made her look at her surroundings. Sure enough she was on the same hill-top that her mother had been upon twenty-one years ago; she was sitting on a tree stump, looking down on the Labyrinth and everything within it including the castle.**

"**What choice do you have? You can either try to solve the Labyrinth in your allotted time or you could wait here until your time expires." He smirked and began to fade away. **

**His voice came to her from seemingly everywhere at once as he said, "It's your choice, Diana."**


	4. The Labyrinth

**The Labyrinth**

**Chapter Three**

**Diana harrumphed, stood, and started down the hill towards the gates of the Labyrinth. She reached them and looked around almost expecting to see Hoggle. She walked up to the doors and pushed; they didn't budge. She tried again without luck.**

**Still pushing on the doors when she tried a third time she yelled, "How am I supposed to start if I can't even get in?" **

**The doors swung open and Diana was picking herself up off of the ground before she had had time to blink.**

"**Thanks a lot." She muttered crossly and she heard a chuckle echo in her head.**

**She dusted herself off and proceeded to the right without hesitation, dragging her hand along the wall on her right until she came to a hidden opening about five feet from the entrance. She went into this opening and veered to the left. After walking for a few feet, she came upon a clearing where there were about seven different directions that she could choose from. She went from corner to corner trying to get a glimpse of the castle and, therefore, her direction. When she spotted it she was pointed towards the south and began walking in a continuously southern direction. She walked the Labyrinth taking only openings that brought her closer to the castle and had been walking for about an hour when she heard music filtering down from the castle. The music was lively and indistinguishable though it reminded Diana of **_**Magic Dance**_

"**Ha! Wouldn't that be something? **_**Magic Dance**_** still being preformed twenty-one years after Mother's arrival here." She thought, incredulous.**

**Diana followed the sound and came across two very familiar figures who were chatting in a heavy Scottish brogue. The one in red spotted her first and yelled out,**

"**Oh, ho, ho! What have we here?" **

"**I do believe this lass is the one the Underground has been waiting for!" replied the blue brother. **

**Just as in the movie the Two-Headed Twins asked her which door she wanted to go through and told her she could only ask one of them a question however one always lies so she should choose carefully. Ignoring them, Diana pushed past the red Twin and tried to open that door. It didn't open so she stepped back and indicated that that was the door she intended to use.**

"**Hold on now, Miss. Do you not want to know the catch?" asked the one in red.**

"**I already know that an oubliette awaits me if I go through the door on the right so I want to try this door."**

**Nervously the Twin in red stepped aside and allowed Diana to pass. **

**She had walked only a foot or so when a voice, that was becoming all too familiar to her, boomed, "What do you think you are doing!?"**

**Looking around her she saw no one but when she turned back to the front there was Jareth standing about a foot in front of her, dressed in breeches and a waist coat with a white frilled shirt under it that was open almost to his navel, hands on his hips, and mad as a wet wasp.**

"**You stupid girl! Why didn't you choose the door you knew was safe?" he yelled in her face.**

"**Because," she answered sweetly, "If I always took the safe road then I would never find out what I am capable of and nothing-good or bad-would ever happen to me." She could have sworn she saw his eyes turn into flames-whether in passion or rage she could not be sure-but was not allotted another look before she found herself at the entrance of the Labyrinth with its doors at her back.**

"**Damn him." She swore and continued blessing Jareth, wishing he was around to hear it.**

"**How could she do that?!" Jareth fumed. He had reappeared in the throne room and hadn't stopped pacing since his feet touched the stone floors.**

"**The way that she seems to have no regard for her own safety, you would think that she wanted to get killed!" what he would not admit was the fact that Diana's actions had lit a fire within him that was so hot it refused to be blown out…even by the command of a king. Not only her actions but also her courage and stubbornness that was so much like his own and so hard to find in others. She didn't mind taking chances and wasn't afraid to speak her mind.**

"**She's out of control!" he yelled suddenly, making all of the goblins jump and quiet down. **

**On the far side of the room there was a group of goblins that were so engrossed in something that they paid their King very little attention. Jareth stalked towards them and towered over them when he said, "And what do we have here?"**

**One of the goblins grinned and held up two books for the Goblin King to examine.**

"**We took them from Her room!" he said proudly. **

**The Goblin King snatched the books away and went to sit in his throne. The first book contained sketches; he thought them to be good but not great though they did pique his interests. Some of them were of the Labyrinth and her inhabitants—including some of the King himself—others were of human/animals and some were of places. **

**Setting down the book of sketches, Jareth picked up the other book. This one contained various stories. Some of the stories seemed to correlate with some of the drawings he had seen and others were as though Diana had wrote of herself and what she wished her life could be.**

**All of a sudden the Goblin King broke out into a cruel laughter. This made the goblins, who had become loud once more on account of their King reading for so long, cease conversation all together.**

"**Oh, my dear, dear Diana." He crooned softly as he summoned a crystal and watched her make her way towards the opening her mother had used. **

"**And all this time you had me fooled into thinking that you were just **_**so**_** innocent; now this?" Jareth's voice dropped to a husky level and he spoke into the crystal as though to a lover, "Let's play."**


	5. Love?

**Love?**

**Chapter Four**

**Diana walked for a while before she noticed any changes. The lichen were growing more active by the minute and she could have sworn she could hear them talking to each other. **

**Suddenly she felt as though she were being watched. She felt a hot breeze stir the hair beside her ear and she could almost hear something being whispered. Before she could analyze the situation a British accent greeted her ears.**

"**Bless my soul! You're her aren't you? They told me that you'd be around but I just couldn't believe that the King had really found love!"**

"**Huh? Who said that?"**

"**Down here. You are Her daughter, aren't you—the one He thought he had fallen in love with twenty-one years ago but was sadly mistaken, right?" Diana looked down to find a blue worm with orange hair.**

"**Oh! Um, did you say that Jar…the Goblin King had found love…in…me?"**

"**Yeah, I did. The entire Underground is simply buzzing about it. You see, the Mother Elf, the one who knows who is supposed to fall in love with whom and when babies are to be born-and the like-, started talking about someone coming for His Majesty before you wished for what you did; said that the next sheila to arrive here was His only chance for love and happiness and for that of the entire Labyrinth. Don't worry, Love, everyone around here wants to pacify Him so most times there will be plenty help for you, I'm sure." Staring at the worm, Diana tried to find her tongue. The worm waited for her.**

"**Uh, I should really be going; I don't have all of my time left."**

"**Well, then, you'll want to go in front of me, go to the left, seeing as you want to get to the castle, then follow that passed six openings. Take the sixth opening and follow that to the south all the way to the clearing with the sphinx. That's all I know, after all, I'm only a worm."**

"**Yeah, thanks for all of your help." Diana headed off and followed the worm's instructions to the letter. Low and behold she came to the clearing, however, she didn't she any sphinx. Looking around proved that her entrance had closed and there was no exit. She was trapped and had no way to get out.**

**She had just begun to get nervous when a creature, who Diana could only guess was the sphinx, appeared out from seemingly no where and said, "Well, aren't you the lucky one? Get by me and you will be on your way to see His Majesty for it is almost a straight shot from here to the castle gate."**

"**If I don't make it passed you?"**

"**Back to the beginning of the maze to maybe be a goblin for the rest of your days." **

**Diana didn't reply but instead looked over this curious creature. He, she assumed it was a he because of its almost human face, had the body of a black cat and the wings of a golden eagle. The Eye of Ra was a dash of silver on his forehead and an Ankh was a puddle of gold covering the heart of his chest. The shoulders of the sphinx would reach an average man's waist and the muscles beneath his coat were toned, taunt and obviously well trained. He was beautiful but her English teacher had told the class about how they were tricksters and spoke only in riddles. **

"**For you, Great Lady, I will speak plainly." the sphinx had answered her unspoken question.**

"**Thank you, I think." said Diana warily.**

**The sphinx inclined his head and spoke once again, "You must solve three riddles in order to continue on your journey. Your first riddle is: What constantly changes, but remains a sphere, is always there but not often seen?"**

"**Well, lots of things keep changing but not many of them a spherical; the earth is those things except that you can always see some part of it. Think, Diana, think! Wait…the moon. The Moon?"**

"**Aw, I must say that I am thrilled to see someone who systematically solves a problem the way you do; I have met only one other person who does this as well."**

"**Really; do I know them; who is it?" **

"**Jareth, King of the Goblins." Diana's eyes widened and the sphinx continued. "One down, two more to go. Your next riddle is: Die without me, never thank me; Walk right through me, sometimes feel me, sometimes hear me though never speaking and never seen." **

**Diana sighed and began her process, "Okay, you die without food, water, and air so it will probably be one of those. You can feel all of them but you can only hear two and can't no see only one. The answer has to be air, right?"**

"**Yesss." It drawled. "It appears that I must choose something harder for your final riddle. Hm…well, then try this one: Awkward is your first but something you never forget; Gross if you just ate Liverwurst but the best while watching a sunset; The more you get of me the more of me you thirst; I appear in Shakespeare's sonnets, I make you so happy you could burst. Good luck."**

**Diana's eyes widened and she began to think franticly without any success.**

"**Well?" the sphinx questioned after more than a few moments had passed.**

"**Um, liverwurst is a food so it has to do with taste. 'Thirst' also has to do with mouths. A sunset is something pure that anyone can enjoy. Shakespeare had a lot of romance in his sonnets. Awkward, mouths, romance…ug! The only thing that I could **_**imagine**_** being those things, not that I would know mind you, would be a kiss. I'm gonna say a kiss." The sphinx bowed his head in remorse.**

"**In all of the time that I have been in this position…you are the second to have had so little trouble solving my riddles."**

"**So I guess this means I have to…Say what?"**

"**Your door is there." He said pointing with his tail, head still bowed though he was grinning.**

**Diana thanked him quickly and ran through the door but before it closed behind her she thought she heard voices back in the clearing.**

**Jareth materialized as Diana disappeared through the door that would lead her closer to his castle.**

"**Please, My Lord, be gentle with her." said the sphinx without looking at his King.**

"**Oh, do not worry about her too much; she is in very experienced hands." he replied with a wryly smile.**

"**That's what worries me; she doesn't even know the experience of kissing yet." the sphinx implored. **

"**That is what makes it so fun…everything for her is a new experience!"**

"**A word of caution, if I may?" The Goblin King inclined his head with a wicked grin on his face and the sphinx continued, "If you happen to break any part of her—her body, her heart, her soul, anything--in the 'fun' you are having, she will then cease to love you and will instead thoroughly hate you."**

**For about the first time in his life, Jareth was at a loss for words. He quickly found his voice and asked, "Did you say that she will 'cease' to love me, meaning that she already does love me?" **

"**Y...yes, you didn't know? The entire Underground knows that this young woman is your only chance for love and happiness. I assumed that you knew this!" the sphinx was truly terrified at the fact he had had to be the one to tell this fearsome King something of this magnitude. **

"**This has been most informative." he mused. With that he returned to the castle to think.**


	6. Wall Of Roses

**Walls of Roses**

**Chapter Five**

**After walking through the door, Diana found herself in a beautiful place. The walls of the Labyrinth had turned into walls of roses that were of every size and color imaginable. The blooms ranged from white to blood red and from buds to full blossoms. In a state of shock, Diana gaped at her surroundings for the view she held was one she had written, and later drawn, not but a few months before as a setting for one of her stories.**

"**How is this possible?" she breathed in wonder. "How could he have known about this?"**

"**Chu is not from 'round here, is chu, Chica?" asked a feminine voice that was laden with a Spanish accent. Diana looked around but could not see anyone.**

"**Down here, Chica." She looked down as something tugged on her pant leg. What she saw was a purple mink. All Diana could do was stare because this too was one of her creations. **

"**Um, your name couldn't be Maria, could it?"**

"**Si, me llamo es Maria. Que es tu llamas?"**

"**Me…llamo Diana?"**

"**Tu hablas espanol?" **

"**Pequeno mas."**

"**Ah, lo siento! I'm sorry. I will speak English for you." Maria beamed. **

"**Thank you. I'm headed for the castle at the center of the Labyrinth. Do you know how to get there; I'm kinda in a hurry."**

"**Yes, I know how. Come I will show you." Without another word she had sprinted down the hall in front of Diana and around a corner to the right.**

**Diana quickly followed the mink and found her waiting several yards away in a clearing that the top had been over grown with roses. Once she had caught up, Maria, now a tranquil blue, climbed up Diana's pant leg, up the front of her shirt and under her hair to lie across her shoulders gaining a curious look from Diana.**

"**If chu don't mind, Chica, I can see better from up here."**

"**No, not at all." Diana giggled. "Just don't move around too much…you tickle." Maria squiggled on purpose gaining another laugh from Diana and giggled herself.**

**They walked along for a while with Maria telling Diana which turns to make and where to stay away from because some of the roses have very sharp thorns. Little did either know they were being watched by a certain Goblin King.**

**Jareth watched Diana and her furry little friend walk toward both his castle and Diana's decision. They walked around a corner and out of sight; once Jareth knew that they were also out of hearing range he summoned a crystal and tossed it in front of him. **

**From the crystal appeared a naked man who might have been mistaken for a body builder. He had jet black hair only atop his head, golden eyes, and a sleek form.**

"**You will go and find this young woman. Do not harm her, do not violate her. You are to show her the way through the roses toward my castle and have her eat something prior to getting within the sights of the castle. This is essential to my plans. I don't care what she eats just make her eat something from the Labyrinth herself. Now go!" Jareth had addressed this new-comer with a pampered air about him. **

"**A few questions, Sire?" questioned the man.**

"**If you must." He replied, annoyed.**

"**Who am I to lead to your castle?" Jareth looked at him oddly then sighed.**

"**Come and I will show you." The man gazed into a crystal that Jareth produced and saw the most beautiful female in his memory. "She is mine. Do**_** not**_** get any ideas." he added possessively.**

"**Yes, Sire; why must she eat something? Will she be hungry?" the man asked befuddled.**

"**That is none of your concern. All you must know is that she is required to eat and that it is to benefit my cause. Any other questions?" was the curt reply.**

**The man nodded his head even though he was more than a little confused. **

"**Good. Now once she has eaten you are to go to my castle, leaving her to digest whatever she has consumed, and also bring that friend of hers…the mink."**

"**What purpose does it have if I am to only get her to eat something, without getting her all the way to your castle, and then leave?"**

"**Once you leave she will come with me for a time, and if all goes well the Labyrinth will finally have her Queen. Does that answer your question?"**

**Nodding the man left Jareth and proceeded where he heard voices in the distance leaving Jareth alone. **

**Jareth summoned yet another crystal and dropped it at his feet. The next moment he was in a clearing watching Diana walk into it and stop when a black jaguar appeared in front of her. **

**He watched her gasp, not in fear but in awe, at the sight of the magnificent creature. She held still as it approached her and her companion began softly chittering nervously turning from purple to pale grey. **

**The animal continued its advance. However, it didn't stalk towards Diana but around her. The jaguar orbited her for some time, tightening its circle with each pass until it almost brushed her legs as it passed her on a final revolution only to stop directly in front of her.**

**When the creature began to deform and shift into a characteristically human form, Jareth took his leave and disappeared back to his castle still wondering about the feelings she invoked in him when he watched her reaction to a dangerous situation and knowing Diana was about to get some unexpected help; more or less that is.**

**The animal had shifted from a jaguar to a naked man before Diana's eyes and before Diana could avert her eyes. Blushing she quickly looked away. **

"**Am I so hideous that you must look away?" he asked in a deep but gentle voice that rumbled and sounded very much like a purr.**

**Diana was at a loss as to what to say. "Um, no but you…uh…you're…naked."**

**He looked down upon himself then back up at her reversed body. **

"**Should clothing matter so much?" he asked confused. "Animals rarely wear clothing and they still look upon each other."**

"**Well, I'm a human being and I prefer to look at other human beings only when they have clothes on." she stammered.**

"**You can't always have clothes adorned to your body; how else could you bathe?" he questioned as he began to walk to her front. "And this talking to a back is getting to be annoying."**

**Diana squeaked when his form came into her peripheral vision and attempted to keep from seeing the rest of him by continuing to turn. He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. **

"**Why will you not look at me?" he asked beginning to get frustrated.**

"**I…I…" Diana sputtered in his face trying her best not to look at her feet…and the rest of him. His face relaxed as he tried to don a less intimidating look as he was obviously frightening her.**

"**Do you need help?" he inquired gently. **

"**I, uh, yes?"**

"**Very well, I will guide you and your friend to the castle. Please make a note that His Majesty will be very put out if he finds me helping you." Diana looked at him questioningly but he merely smiled and began to walk off.**

"**Could you maybe put on some **_**clothes**_**?" she called after him as she averted her eyes once again.**

"**No. If you walk right beside me you should not have to worry about defiling your vision as you seem to think simply looking at me will do." She could tell he had stopped and was waiting for her. Proceeding forward with her eyes on the ground she finally found his feet and refused to look at him until she was face to face with him again. Grabbing her arm he started walking again only letting go when they were at a constant gait.**

"**So," Diana began as they began navigating the Labyrinth. "Do you have a name? Mine is Diana and this here" she indicated the now pink mink "Is Maria."**

"**Pleasure." He said as he inclined his head. "I am called Asar, Goddess of the Hunts."**

"**Excuse me?" **

"**Your name, it is the name of the Goddess of the Hunts, Diana."**

"**Oh! Oh, yeah!" she said a little taken a-back. "I never made the correlation between the two." Asar smirked and continued forward. **

"**You know, a Goddess for a King seems apt."**

"**Excuse you?"**

"**You and His Majesty appear to be quite fitted for each other. You each are what the other is lacking."**

"**Can we **_**please**_** find a different subject?" complained Maria, who had previously been forgotten.**

"**I agree." quipped Diana.**

"**Very well; are either of you hungry? I, personally, am famished and there appears to be a bushel of blackberries up ahead."**

"**Um," said Diana, remembering what happened to her mother with the peach. Asar grabbed a handful when they got to the bush and popped some into his mouth before offering a few to Diana. **

**Eyeing him suspiciously, Diana accepted the berries and ate a couple, noting that they were very good. She offered Maria one but the brown mink declined saying that she was strictly carnivorous. **

**Diana ate berries until she was so full she felt like she would be sick. After a time of walking they came to a garden that was full of stone benches with a reflecting pool in the center and marble columns dotting various corners. **

"**Oh my God, I have to sit down." Diana informed her companions as she walked toward one of the benches. "You know, I think I'll lie down for a minute. Don't you two let me go to sleep, okay?" the two nodded, both knowing that Diana could use a quick rest even though time was getting low.**

**Within a few minutes Diana was asleep on one of the benches with an arm as a pillow, Maria was dozing by her out stretched fingers and Asar was becoming anxious. When he was positive that Diana would not wake up and Maria was dazed enough to not be a problem, he grabbed Maria gently, pulling her to him. She stirred slightly.**

"**It's okay. Go back to sleep." He crooned softly, rocking her slightly and cradling her to his chest. Maria shifted in his arms but quickly quieted and resumed her slumber. **

"**You have done well." said a voice from the shadows. Asar jumped slightly before he noted Jareth coming up beside him. "Beautiful, is she not?" he asked as he walked over to Diana and lightly petted her hair, his expression softened and caring.**

"**What will become of her?" Asar asked quietly, concerned now that he had gotten to know Diana better and respected her.**

"**She will choose her own fate; however, I do hope that she chooses to remain with me. For some reason I cannot bear the thought of losing her." Jareth's gaze hardened as he looked upon Asar. "Take the mink back to the castle and have one of the servants place her in Diana's rooms. Tell them to make sure that she stays asleep until Diana reaches the castle—in one form or another." **

"**Yes, Your Majesty. It will be done." He trotted off leaving Diana in Jareth's aching hands. **


	7. A New Beginning

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter six**

**After watching the jaguar leave, Jareth walked over to Diana. Looking down upon her, he smiled tenderly. He produced a crystal and transported them to a clearing in the middle of a luscious forest. **

**Diana was swathed in a classic dress that one might associate with the Civil War era. The bodice was light green and the ground length skirt was a brilliant emerald green. Her feet were bare as were her hands and head. Her hair was spread about the ground on which she slept in a fan that framed her oval face. **

**Jareth, in an emerald green poet's shirt and black breeches-his feet also bare-, looked down on the sleeping youth and silently begged the gods to have her choose to stay with him. He settled himself a few feet away from her and waited patiently for her to awaken. **

**Roughly an hour later, Jareth saw Diana stretch luxuriously along the ground and heard her sigh softly. She placed her arm behind her head, leaving one of her hands free to caress a patch of grass near-by, and breathed, "Maria? Asar?"**

"**Diana." replied Jareth with a smirk in his voice.**

"**Hm," Diana smiled drowsily "Hey Jareth." She paused as though just remembering something and sat up quickly. "Jareth?!" she squeaked surprised. Her eyes roved around her, found him sitting almost next to her and widened to the size of dinner plates.**

"**Hello Diana, did you have a nice nap?" he smirked again though this one had a peculiar softness to it.**

"**Uh…yeah; how long was I out?" she asked, confuse.**

"**About an hour; why do you have a previous engagement?" he asked with humorous sarcasm. She scowled at him and turned to look about her for the first time.**

"**Where are we, it's…beautiful?" The awe in her voice pleased him as nothing else in his long, lonely life ever had before.**

"**A place that is simply ours and no one else's." he replied while watching her intently. "You and I are the only ones that can access this place. The Labyrinth did this for us. The idea, by the way, was taken from a story of yours that, I must say, was a rather interesting read."**

"**You…you read my stories?" she yelped, looking as though she wanted to ask his opinion but was too embarrassed to do so.**

"**Yes, I did. They were very unique and kept one's interest. Some of the content, however, I was surprised to see in the writing of someone your age as well of someone with your…experience level?"**

"**And what in the blue-blazes do you mean by **_**that**_**?" she asked heatedly, not taking kindly to what she felt was invasion of her privacy and the criticizing of her laborious hours of work.**

"**Well," he said with a crooked smile as he conjured a crystal that turned into one of her composition book "Let us see." He turned to a page that seemed to have been opened to more than once and began reading, "Aw, here we are: 'Jareth stalked me; the fierceness in his eyes somewhat disturbing. He advanced; coming closer and closer until my back was against the large black marble post of his bed. He grabbed me in a lusty embrace, pinning me between his firm body and the bed post, and brought his lips savagely to mine; consuming them like a ravenous man consumes bread after a week of starvation. His hands were rough against my virgin skin though they consisted of no calluses and were baby smooth; the fact that he was clothed and I was gloriously nude was very evident to me if not to him. His mouth drew away from my now tender lips and began a scorching trail down my throat while his hands roved over my exposed back and rear making me shiver slightly, making my nipples stand at attention. I locked my hands behind his neck, silently urging him to come back to my aching lips; he refused. Without a word, he lifted me into his arms and threw me on the black satin covered king-sized bed. He covered me instantly making me clutch his shoulders to keep the heat between us. "Please." I breathed in a strangled voice, wishing that his clothes were gone as mine were. The only reply I got was "If you want it, you do it yourself." before he captured my mouth again, his tongue fighting a duel with mine. I reached my hands up and began working on getting his shirt out of the way. With a final tug and the separation of our mouths, the shirt was off and I finally was able to run my hands over his perfect pectorals and abdominals. My hands traveled downward until the waistband of his breeches was in my range. Working around his insistent lips and captivating body, I managed to free his lower body from the remainder of fabric. I ran my hands the way he had done: over his shoulders, down his back and over his behind. Just as I began the second run of my circuit, Jareth captured my hands and trapped them over my head. He freed one hand and set it between us gently. Slowly, tentatively, he brought it down until it brushed our almost union. I blushed deeply when it dawned on me what he wanted. I hesitantly gripped the smooth, tight, velvet skin between my fingers and rubbed gently; he let out a sub-sonic moan and urged me to go faster, harder. I…'"**

"**Stop!" she shrieked turning scarlet as she finally found her voice.**

"**What?" he asked quizzically as a smirk appeared on his face but turned quickly into an expression that greatly resembled a pout. "We were just about to get to the good part, too. Such a pity."**

"**How did you…, what were you…, when did you…I…um." She blushed again and tried to hide her face. Two fingers tenderly lifted her chin and she was forced to gaze into his mix-matched eyes. **

"**Don't hide your face, Diana. It is much too pretty for that." he told her in a soft voice. "Please do not be embarrassed by this," he indicated the book in his hands "Your writing is very good and I **_**thoroughly**_** enjoyed reading it. You should take some lessons from this heroine of yours. She does, indeed, know how to capture a man's attention." He winked at her and she smiled tentatively in reply. He leaned in and brushed her lips with his own, receiving her lowered eyes as an invitation to proceed. Their kiss advanced and Diana was pleased to find it all she had ever hoped for in a first kiss as well as much more. The kiss itself was tender at first but eventually, after Diana began kissing back—a fact that she was not immediately aware of--, became hungry and passionate. Jareth thrust his tongue between Diana's lips drawing a gasp from her and gently probed the tender flesh inside. She moaned as his hands became tangled in her locks as he secured her to him. She wrapped her arms possessively around his neck and her legs the same way around his hips as he lifted her off the ground with the one hand that was not entrapped by her hair and set her on his lap. He broke away from her mouth and ran his lips over her jaw, throat and collarbone. **

"**Why are you doing this?" she whispered through heavy breaths, confused, her hands lightly combing his hair. **

"**Because, this is what you want." he replied against her skin. She pulled away and looked at him abashed.**

"**What? Who says I want this and, besides, what does it matter what I want? What do you want?" she asked; the last huskily and through throbbing lips that were still full from the previous attention.**

"**What you want matters because I say it does. As for what I want…that is of no consequence." He resumed his attentions for a moment but she quickly pushed him away.**

"**So all of this is just to get me to run out of time, right? And what if I don't want this, what if…if I told you what I really want is to know what you want?"**

"**Then I would tell you. Why would you want to know?" he inquired as he grew impatient, ignoring part of her question completely. **

"**Tell me." she breathed in his ear as she brushed her chest against his and leaned in further "I want to know for my own reasons."**

"**Fine; what I want, more than anything in the Underground, is…you." He looked at her with heady eyes that were tight with control and she could hear the truth of his answer resonate within her. **

"**Why me?" He looked at her with understanding--and poorly restrained lust.**

"**You are the only…being that I have ever met that makes me feel…never mind. My feelings mean nothing." She looked at him hard and ran her hands over his waist causing him to stifle a shudder.**

"**If I'm with you does that mean I have won the Labyrinth?" she questioned as her hands made delectable circles over his abdominals.**

"**That, My Dear, resides with your choice." he said, his voice slightly strained from her insatiable interest in his body.**

"**And what choice would that be?" she coaxed, sliding her hands up his body and gently tracing his ear with her nail on her pointing finger.**

"**Whether or not you decide to stay with me." he said seemingly pained as his hands made delicious patterns on the skin beside her breasts.**

"**Hm, decisions, decisions." She leaned forward and put her head in the crook of his neck. Her lips gently caressed the hollow made behind his ear. "It all depends on what will be expected of me."**

"**Marry me." he told her passionately. Before she could answer, his mouth was upon hers once again; his hands had swept over her breasts and were tugging at the laces of her bodice. **

"**Wait!" she gasped against his insistent lips, trying to still his hands "Not here, never here." **

"**Very well," he huffed, though his arms tightened possessively around her. He stopped for just a moment, produced a crystal, and transported them to a large room that was dominated with a giant, four-poster bed in the center. As soon as their feet touched the stone floor, Jareth returned to the task he had assigned himself. Diana surrendered and let Jareth to his actions. She knew that he was right to ask this from her, this **_**was**_** what she wanted and she wanted it from him and only him. She also knew that he had told her all she was going to get from him at that point in time.**

**Feeling her surrender, Jareth doubled his efforts to disrobe her. She imprisoned his hands right before the laces gave way; she heard him pant as though he had just finished running a marathon and looked at him tenderly. Slowly, carefully, she leaned in and took his mouth, guiding his hands behind her. He took the bait and grasped her waist firmly, pulling her to him with such force that it almost knocked them both off balance.**

**In an attempt to keep the two of them off of the floor, Jareth swung Diana up into his arms, bridal-style. She wrapped her arms roughly around his neck though neither broke their kiss. Gliding to the bed, he carefully lowered her onto it finally breaking their connection. **

**From the bed, Diana looked up at him with eyes that he had never seen on someone so young for they were full of unashamed desire. **

"**She is beautiful," he thought to himself as he sat on the side of the bed for a moment simply looking her over "And she has given herself to me freely. Maybe there is some merit to this 'love' idea."**

**He leaned down and over her so that his weight rested on his forearms so that none of his weight burdened her. One of his hands ghosted over her bodice, reaching for the laces once more. They came loose with a slight tug and he slipped the restraining fabric as well as the chemise that it covered away from her body revealing the soft, untouched flesh beneath. Jareth looked over her for a moment with an appreciative expression playing on his face.**

**Diana gave a soft whimper as the clothing slid over her body making her breasts bounce ever so slightly. She looked up at him with questioning eyes, not sure how she was supposed to act; however, the moment she captured his eyes her body began running as though on autopilot. She knew only that she wanted him and was unaware of the fact, for more than a moment but never seemed to mind once she realized that **_**she**_** had opened his shirt, pealed it off of his frame and was running her hands over his exposed chest. **

**Her fingers ghosted across his body, lingering over his nipples. She leaned up and ran her mouth over him lightly causing him to gasp. Her hands moved to his shoulders then his neck as she brought him in for yet another kiss. He turned his head at the last moment, giving her his cheek. **

"**I can't!" he whispered passionately. **

"**What?" she breathed "What's wrong?"**

"**I cannot, will not, continue this until you give me an answer. I simply cannot do that to you, or myself, without your complete consent." He bowed his head to her shoulder and she felt hot moisture slide down her skin toward the sheets. **

**She touched his hair gently thought that was NOT what her body was demanding of her at the moment. "What is it?" she asked softly, allowing him to hear what his pause was doing to her. **

"**I will not give myself, and you, false hopes! Give me an answer!" he all but shouted, his voice holding a level of strain that Diana had never heard before.**

"**If I will marry you?" she asked, panting, wanting him to continue so badly that she began to shiver. **

"**Yes! Yes, damn it! Please, give me an answer." he pleaded with her again. **

**Diana slipped a hand between them and began working furiously at getting his pants off before he could realize her intentions. She got them off and held his length in her hands, fingers moving lightly across the smooth skin. He groaned in agony—whether from her actions or from frustration caused by her not giving her answer—and she gasped, "YES!" **

**Not needing any prompting more than he had just received, he knocked her hand away and vigorously worked for only a second or two before the remainder of her clothing came off with a satisfying rip. **

**The feeling of flesh against flesh was more than Diana thought she could bear. The feel of his length pressed hard against her lower stomach sparked something to life inside her that she could only describe as pure, unadulterated longing; longing for a life intertwined with his and possibly the creation of a life by him.**

**He positioned his body so that he was at her entry but was in no way violating it. Her hips began to move as though they knew that he was so close. However, he could NOT allow her to become injured. Not there, never there. She would never associate that kind of pain with him!**

"**Please." she whispered, her nails beginning to dig into the muscles in the tops of his arms.**

**Ignoring the pain that was starting to form in his arms, he slowly, gradually let his weight to burden her, and, in turn, subdue the frenzied movements of her body. Grasping her hips to further still her movements, he permitted his body to play in her feminine moisture. He was rewarded with her agonized groan and plea to take her violently. He shook his head slightly and she whimpered. He smirked and slid the tip of himself into her. **

**Her shriek startled him, almost making him loose his concentration and plunder her. Regaining himself, he progressively inserted himself into her body, noting that he was, indeed, the first to claim her and, therefore, she was terribly tight. She sighed and pressed herself into him as much as his restricting body would allow. **

**He leaned down to give her a gentle kiss though it appeared that she had other ideas. His mouth brushed hers and she captured his with such ferocity that he was forced to gasp. He allotted her time in which she could explore him more thoroughly and was delighted to find that this gave him the same amount of time to do the same to her.**

**She couldn't breathe. It felt as though he had remained unmoving inside of her for hours and had no intentions of relieving the excruciating ecstasy that was beginning to increase in intensity. His hands played with her body as her mouth explored his and both of them were gasping when they came up for air. **

"**If only he would MOVE!" she thought passionately as she squirmed in an attempt to get him to create some type of friction and draw away some of the ache that was consuming her body. "And, hopefully his, too." **

**Her body was a drug to him. He could not seem to get enough of her; though he was attempting to spare her he was about to go insane if he didn't move here in the extremely near future. She, in the end, made the decision for him. Each time she writhed beneath him it drove a spike into his heart because he knew he was the one causing her this grief and he could not bear to torment her any longer. **

**He began to slowly pull out of her before reinserting himself just as measured as he had come out. She moaned and was echoed by him. He continued the torturous rhythm for a few moments more before the ache grew to be too much for the both of them and need won over caution. His pace increased until their movements were staccato and hurried. **

**Just when she thought she would have massive heart failure from the pleasure of it all, life poured into her and her body answered it; she felt boneless, like she could not even hold her head up. He had collapsed on top of her and his breathing was erratic. He pulled out of her and rolled to lay beside her, his arms still around her, forcing her into a position where she was almost lying on him.**

"**My apologies, Love," he said, his eyes half closed and a very content smile playing upon his lush lips "I never once wanted to have your, **_**our, **_**first time to be so quick. However, you see, I do not think that I have ever wanted someone as badly as I wanted you the first time I laid eyes on you which made my thoughts, as well as intentions, somewhat scattered. I had wanted to bind you to me—I will explain this phrase at a later time, I assure you—but when I saw what I can only surmise to be love in your eyes, love for me, my long since heart-of-ice finally melted and my thoughts were only to have you for my own and for all eternity[physically."**

**He said this with such feeling that Diana's own heart melted--as did any misgivings she might have had about the man whose arms were securely around her naked body. She laid her head on his shoulder, causing him to sigh, and snuggled closer to him. She turned her mouth towards his and gently took the set of masculine lips with her own.**

"**I forgive you…Jareth." she breathed into his mouth. **

"**Oh, please, Diana, say it again. Just like you did then, please say it." **

"**What? Jareth?" **

"**Yessss." he groaned, his head digging into the pillow. "The only time you've ever said my name like **_**that**_** was when you were just waking from your rest." His voice was breathy and held more than a little need in it. "I swear to you, the next time we have relations such as these just past I **_**will **_**make you scream my name. This is a promise, Diana."**

"**Tell me something."**

"**Hm?"**

"**Did you really mean what you said before; you weren't just trying to get…to have…to…I…um, well, you know what I'm trying to say, right?" she looked at him imploringly, hoping that he would understand. **

"**Diana, love, if you are old enough to **_**act **_**in adult ways then you must also learn to communicate in adult ways; meaning that, in order for me to **_**truly**_** know what you are trying to say, you must say it correctly. How about you try it? Tell me, what are you trying to say?" He grinned and watched her face go from confused to astonished to abashed within a matter of milliseconds.**

"**I…you never answered my question!" she stumbled indigently and his grin only stretched wider. **

"**Ask your question properly and I will answer it." An impertinent smirk playing upon his features.**

"**Fine! **_**Did you mean what you said about me marring you or were you just trying to get into my PANTS?**_**" she spat, furious that he had mocked her in such a way.**

**His face looked like it was a 100 watt light-bulb that was about to explode because there was too much power being put into it. "On a technicality you did not ask that question correctly seeing as you were wearing a skirt, however, it was close enough for 'jazz', as they say, and, therefore, I **_**shall**_** answer it." He took a breath before answering and was delighted to note that her breathing hitched in anticipation. "Yes," he said and she visibly relaxed. "I did mean what was uttered. Speaking of which, please hold out your left hand." She did as she was told and her hand was taken in his. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger. He pulled away slightly and examined her digits. She looked down and saw the most exquisite engagement ring she had ever seen. The ring consisted of a simple, one-kart diamond in a circular brilliant cut with ten three point—three one-hundredths of a kart—emeralds in the same cut surrounding it. The over all effect took Diana's breath away. **

"**Jareth," she whispered once she had found her voice "It's beautiful!"**

"**I'm pleased that you fancy it. I had hoped for something that could compare to you, however, I have found that to be nearly impossible." In the distance a great clock could be heard chiming out the hour. "Well, My Dear, it appears that your time has officially expired and you are mind but choice as well as default. How do you feel about that?"**

"**Well, the part about being yours by 'default' doesn't bode well with me but the being here by choice is just splendid. I am curious about a few things though."**

"**And what might those things be?"**

"**First of all: will I ever get to see my family and friends again?"**

"**In time you will. If you have not already guessed, I am a fae and have an abnormally long life span, to the point that most humans think us to be immortal—we do die eventually, by the way, and can be kill—so the fact is that you are terribly mortal and we need to rectify that. In order to do this you must stay in the Underground for two months so that your body may acclimatize to the new surrounding. What will also happen in that length of time will be your slow transformation into a semi-immortal being, like me."**

"**You mean that I will become a fae?"**

"**Yes. As of this moment the process has begun. When the clock ran out of time you became mine and since you are here under your own wishes the Labyrinth has granted you this honor. Does that answer that question sufficiently?"**

"**Yes, it does, very well. My next question concerns my not really knowing anything about you. For example, how old are you? Do you have any family? If so, where are they and will I get to meet them? What all do you rule over here in the Underground? How much do you know about me? How…"**

"**Ha! I should have seen this coming. To answer you plethora of questions: 543 years old, though that is about thirty-two or three in the Aboveground's terms; yes I have a family and you will meet them when we announce our engagement here in a couple of days; they reside in various parts of the Underground and I shall explain in greater detail at a later time; I rule a good portion of the Underground and that, too, will be explained another time; I know quite a lot about you and that comes from my watching over your mother for so many years. Does that tell you enough for the time being?"**

**She took in all of the information that she had been given in that short period of time and nodded. She laid her head on his chest again and said, "I may not know you that much but, do you want to know something?"**

"**Do tell."**

"**I do believe that, in spite or it all, I love you." she breathed into his mouth. His met hers and arms tightened around nude bodies. **

**Jareth broke the kiss and said, "And I you, Diana; until the day I die and beyond. Now, I think we should get some sleep and then spend the day getting to **_**know**_** each other a little bit better." **

"**I think that is the perfect idea."**

**Jareth sat up for a moment in order to get the sheets up and over them before laying back down and bring Diana to him. In each other's arms they drifted off into a content slumber that neither one had ever experienced before. **


	8. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Hello to all of you that are STILL holding on. Truth be told I do believe this story shall be the death of me. I have arrived at a part I HOPE will intrigue all of my patrons. The problem is that once I start to write this part my brain decides to take a vacation. Once it gets back from it's holiday I find that I do not like the way the scene is going so I end up doing a rewrite. It is annoying the HELL out of me! As soon as I can get my traitorous brain to function close to normally again I will have an update for everyone. Thanks to those who have reviewed. And to those who are baring with me.

Sincerly,

Jareth Lover 16


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